<BR>You'll Love CAPACITOR'S future species2!! <P>By Sherri Collins <P>Suddenly, dance breaths.<P>We see “breath” in Bill T Jones’ “The Breathing Show” and Margaret Jenkins’ "Breath Normally" <P>But before these, the innovative choreographer Jodi Lomask, artistic director of CAPACITOR, had composed and danced “BREATHTANK” designed specifically for her young group of movement artists working from a narrow studio space in a bay area warehouse. <P>What a breath of fresh air it was back in 1996, especially in a space without windows!<P>Lomask’s “BREATHTANK,” never stagnant, has evolved from its windowless home to future species2, a composite work now in rehearsal for a six-night booking, Thursdays-Saturdays, FEBRUARY 3-5, and FEBRUARY 10-12 at 8 p.m. in somARTS Gallery Theater, 934 Brannan St., SOMA, San Francisco.<P>Future species2 with its remarkable movers, fascinating angles and futuristic media transmits an energy jolt to all experiencing it.<P>Incorporating the dynamic push and pull between art and science, CAPACITOR combines the body’s capacity for grace and beauty with a dose of technological prowess, glow props become air bubbles, bungee cords, intestines; ropes and pulleys, muscles. There’s no end to this dance of articulation and athleticism.<P>As Lomask moves her artists through metaphorical images working on floors, walls and from ceiling beams, excitement builds, and some get breathless watching..<P>TEST and VAINGLORIOUS, each tech installation artists, enhance the work with photokinetic transformations and mischief. <P>Call 510-601-TWEB or go to <A HREF="http://www.capacitor.org" TARGET=_blank>www.capacitor.org</A> for $15 tickets to CAPACITOR’S future species 2. Door price is $20.<P>CAPACITOR, is a 1999 recipient of the new Theater Bay Area CASH Grant ,Zellerbach Family Funds, and for a new work, Within Outer Spaces, an American Composer’s Forum grant. CAPACITOR’S solid performance record includes San Francisco’s 1015 Folsom, Concourse Exhibition Center, Yerba Buena Gardens, Theater Artaud, Venue 9, Dance Mission Theater, ODC, Brady Street Theater; Berkeley’s Julia Morgan Theater; and Oakland’s Alice Arts Center. CAPACITOR sponsors summer internships and an Artists’ Collaboration and Performance Program.<P>

Sherri,<P>You wouldn't happen to be affiliated with Capacitor, would you? This post reads like a press release rather than as an opening for a forum discussion. Maybe we could post this on the Critical Dance page for press releases instead. <P><p>[This message has been edited by Michael (edited 01-18-2000).]

Hello there Critaldance folks: <P>Oh my god; You won't believe your eyes and ears. I just sailed back from a rehearsal of future species2 at somArts that my friend let me in on, and I am totally blown away.<P>I know that I stopped breathing several times. Jodi Lomask challenges all human emotion as future species2 tugs at the heart, the stomach, the lungs and even the brain.<P>The show's timing is impeccable..the solo dance pieces, the duets, the group explorations-- sometimes 12 dancers are on stage at once...(.and what a stage! It is everywhere--on the left, the right, ahead, above. Your eyes and senses can barely keep up with the movement and the inspiration behind that movement. Lomask knows just when you cannot take another second and gives you a break!<P>When the lights and sound are better worked out for the opening on Thursday, people will be leaving donations at the door. CAPACITOR really should set up a basket for donations since the ticket price is just too low for the vitality complexity that appears magically before your eyes.<P>From light bulbs to glowballs, to harnesses, to , to , to …the suspense never stops for the entire 80-minute work.<P>Lomask pops up in future species2 everywhere as choreographer, producer, dancer, director. Barely five feet tall, she pushes aside the growing pains of establishing her young company with enthusiasm and courage. If there is no one do to something, she steps quietly in and gets it done herself with forethought and determination. In addition, she remains level-headed and even-tempered...and probably exhausted but I did not catch even a glimpse of that. <P>I could go on and on as this group works together so well. They trust each other unreservedly as you will see if you get to see the show. Basically CAPACITOR is a teacher's dream...it is the fruition of one person's initiative and inspiration interwoven with the inspiration and creativity of an entire group of talented people who willingly suspend their lives to put together this intricate and ambitious work. <P>As a professor might say in a recommendation letter for a college graduate to attend graduate school, "I recommend this candidate (production) unequivocally!" --Sherri Collins<BR>

future species2 opened last night and like the day itself, it was a breath of fresh air after a stormy rehearsal season.<P>Constructing a stage, rigging a theater with pulleys, ropes, harnesses takes weeks and days, for CAPACITOR it came in together under the wire...dancers, climbers, aerialsists, artists, and actors with the assistance of VAINGLORIOUS ushered people into the show for the excitement awaiting them.<P>For those people who doubt Jodi Lomask's attention to dance, they are in for a treat. The dancing is so intense that the climbers and jugglers are surrounded with dance, and literally dance themselves making the attention to them as specialists rarely noticeable. <P>So much is happening at once many times in future species 2 that senses are challenged as to which direction to watch.<P>Jodi Lomask's choreography is origingal, energetic and sharp. She dances often in the show herself-adding a noticeable dynamic to the work whenever she appears. You can watch for her as she pops in and out of pieces and be energized by her innovative spirit and her perception of the future of modern dance.<P>S

I thoroughly enjoyed Capacitor's Feb. 5 performance of Future Species II. Jodi Lomask integrates a lot of elements into the piece that one wouldn't find in a typical mainstream program. The dancers tumble, hang upside down, blow bubbles... but although the show uses novel techniques, it doesn't disintegrate into novelty or rely on sensationalism as many altenative works do. The movement and visual presentation come together into a cohesive exploration of the relationships between the phenomena of the physical world and those of human psychology and emotional life (electricity, attraction, action/reaction). There's something here for those with an intellectual bent as well as for the casual spectator (though I would highly recommend that you participate when asked).

jillv, I'm curious about your last statement. Is there audience participation in this work? Were there audience members who refused to take part when asked? If the work is as intricate as it sounds, how is the audience participation incorporated?

Azlan, it's not as much fun if you know what's going to happen ahead of time... but for the timid, don't be concerned--no one is going to bungee from the rafters and grab you out of your seat.<P>The audience participation isn't really central to Future Species II, but there is some at the beginning (and you should follow the instructions--don't just fake it--I think it makes a difference in how you view the piece). Also, be sure to check out (and participate in) the Vainglorious lobby installation before the show.

jill: you are a sweetheart!!!it is so astute of you to not reveal all of the surprise and suspence of seeing future species2 in your comments. you're touching on the innovative choreography and the expertise of the work, commenting on Jodi Lomask's intense, serious, and multi-dimensional choreography, is brilliant reporting and keeps the integrity of the work available for viewers to see for themselves..sherri collins

CAPACITOR’S future species2 shines brightly in the memories of those who arrived at somARTS even amidst pouring rain and traffic this weekend, closing last night to a standing room packed somARTS and, still, unbelievably new additions...the most exciting and notable was CAPACITOR dancers brilliantly moving on their own to the apron stage for a new interpretation of the encore fire number...if any of you saw it last night and another night, or only last night, you will begin to understand the capacity for creativity this young group inspires, not only among its own dancers, but in its audiences.--sherri

But - But - They juggle and do acrobatics, don't they? Is this the next evolutionary stage in modern dance, or a wannabe circus peformance that incorporates modern dance steps? Are glow balls and bungee cords legitimate modern dance props? And who's to say otherwise anyway?<P>But how do you know when to draw a line, if there is a line, between modern or post-modern dance and dancing with a parasol on a tightrope?<P>No disparagement intended, I'd really like to hear opinions on what constitutes modern dance and where such aerial groups as Capacitor, Zaccho, Project Bandaloop and Flyaway Productions are taking their art (besides up).<P>I am starting a new Modern Dance topic from this discussion, Aerial and Props in Modern/Post-Modern.<P><p>[This message has been edited by Michael (edited 02-17-2000).]

WOW! a great idea--always exciting to start a new modern dance discussion. <P>i think that CAPACITOR is struggling with a new genre identity because of thoughts like yours--art performance strikes their fancy or did, last i heard..what intrigues me about the groups you mention is the idea of extending an art form, not only up as you suggest, but out, under, within and between. the human body can fit beneath and above (most prepositional positions) but, extensions of the human body--the kind jodi lomask incorporates into her choreography, intrigues and arouses contradiction. you cannot imagine the number of times when CAPACITOR dancers when first performing in bay area spaces would be beseiged by one or two people who would be irate at the use of juggling, for example. jodi and the dancers would always listen intently and politely, but not give up the idea. jodi just continued to refine this historic artform, incorporating it more and more into her vision of modern dance, to the point that the question was never even asked in all five performances of future species! is it circus, you ask? would you call michael motion circus? sherri<BR>

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